Cruise Report: 2023-05-02 : 05-03

Pot survey

Author

Mike O’Brien (UMCES)

General notes

Due to high winds (28 kts with gusts to 40 kts) and high seas (6+ feet), this survey was delayed by one day. Weather on Wednesday, 3 May was very amenable to deployment (2-3 ft seas), though weather on Thursday, 4 May should be used as a reference for maximum workable conditions: 3-4 ft seas with 6 ft rollers, winds constant at >15 kts. There is room to work at conditions that are worse if absolutely necessary.

Participants

  • Mike O’Brien (UMCES)
  • Lauren Rodriguez (UMCES)
  • Capt. Brendan Harrington (F/V Integrity)
  • Reilly (F/V Integrity, mate)

Pot deployment cruise, 2023-05-03

Overall

  • 02:30 Meet at F/V Integrity, prepare for departure.
  • 02:45 Depart dock, transit to C2305-1 (control site).
  • 05:19 Arrive at C2305-1.
    • 05:19 Begin deploying pots.
    • 05:23 Finish deploying pots, transit to C2305-2 (control site).
  • 05:58 Arrive at C2305-2.
    • 05:58 Begin deploying pots.
    • 06:01 Finish deploying pots, transit to M12 (experimental turbine site).
  • 06:34 Arrive at M12.
    • 06:35 Begin deploying pots.
    • 06:38 Finish deploying pots, transit to L12 (experimental turbine site).
  • 06:46 Arrive at L12.
    • 06:47 Begin deploying pots.
    • 06:50 Finish deploying pots, transit to K12 (experimental turbine site).
  • 07:00 Arrive at K12.
    • 07:01 Begin deploying pots.
    • 07:04 Finish deploying pots, transit to K09 (experimental turbine site).
  • 07:28 Arrive at K09.
    • 07:28 Begin deploying pots.
    • 07:31 Finish deploying pots, begin fishing.
  • 07:31 End fishing, return to West Ocean City, MD.
  • 10:00 Arrive in West Ocean City, MD.

Description

Survey deployment

Capt. Brendan Harrington and mates Reilly and Will retrieved the pots from the Maryland Coastal Bays program and stacked the pots on the boat starting at 2 May. Because of this, UMCES crew arrived late on 2 May and did not interact with the crew.

Survey commenced on 3 May. Wind speed was 10-15 knots, coming from the NW. Waves were 2 ft. Cloud cover was 0-10% of the sky. Control sites ranged in depth from 121-129 ft, with turbine sites ranging from 98-110 ft.

Onset HOBO temperature loggers were attached to two rigs due to be deployed at turbine sites to log bottom temperature at 10 intervals during deployment. Due to a late change in the order of site deployment, HOBO loggers were instead deployed at one control (C2305-1) and one turbine site (M12).

Pot recovery cruise, 2023-05-04

Overall

  • 02:30 Meet at F/V Integrity, prepare for departure.
  • 02:50 Depart dock, transit to C2305-1.
  • 05:21 Arrive at C2305-1.
    • 05:24 Southern trawl anchor (“block”) recovered.
    • 05:34 Northern block recovered; pot recovery complete. Transit to C2305-2.
  • 06:16 Arrive C2305-2. Begin pot recovery approach.
    • 06:17 Southern block recovered.
    • 06:28 Northern block recovered; pot recovery complete. Transit to M12.
  • 07:31 Arrive M12. Begin pot recovery approach.
    • 07:33 Southern block recovered.
    • 07:41 Northern block recovered; pot recovery complete. Transit to L12.
  • 08:06 Arrive L12. Begin pot recovery approach.
    • 08:08 Southern block recovered.
    • 08:18 Northern block recovered; pot recovery complete. Transit to K12.
  • 08:36 Arrive K12. Begin pot recovery approach.
    • 08:39 Southern block recovered.
    • 08:53 Northern block recovered; pot recovery complete. Transit to K09.
  • 09:39 Arrive K09. Begin pot recovery approach.
    • 09:41 Southern block recovered.
    • 09:49 Northern block recovered; pot recovery complete.
  • 1000 End survey, return to West Ocean City, MD.
  • 1230 Arrive in West Ocean City, MD.

Description

Wind speed was >15 knots, coming from the WNW (as reported by Capt. Harrington). Waves were 4 feet with 6 foot rollers. Cloud cover was 10% of the sky. Though the survey was conducted safely and there is room to “go up” if necessary, these should be considered the top end of weather conditions for operations.

Pots were recovered in the same manner as in previous cruises.

HOBO temperature loggers were successfully recovered from the rigs at C2305-1 and M12.

Dominant species were black sea bass (66) and Atlantic rock crab (13), with sand dollars and one jonah crab also present. 20 of the 89 recovered pots were empty.

There was no significant difference in black sea bass catch between near and far sections of the lines (Poisson GLM, \(p >\) 0.05), but turbine sites had significantly more fish than control sites (Poisson GLM, \(p <\) 0.05).

Total length (mm) and weight (g) of all black sea bass were recorded, culling the first five from each “near” and “far” section and releasing the others. Total lengths of other fish species were also recorded. Black sea bass ranged in total length from 146 - 390 mm, with a mean of 248 mm (minimum legal size 320 mm). Weights ranged from 140 - 800 g, mean of 260 g.

There were no significant differences in length or weight between near and far or control and turbine sites (ANOVA, \(p >\) 0.05).

Catch and size data summaries are shown in the sample summary section below.

Station information

datetime depth wind_speed wind_dir wave_height cloud_cover_10th surf_temp_f lon_start lat_start lon_end lat_end notes
deploy
C2305-1 2023-05-03 05:19:20 121 15.0 NW 2.0 1.0 NA −74.73921 38.19469 −74.74011 38.19628 NA
C2305-2 2023-05-03 05:58:32 129 10.0 NW 2.0 1.0 NA −74.65419 38.20582 −74.65395 38.20800 NA
M12 2023-05-03 06:35:02 98 10.0 WNW 2.0 1.0 NA −74.68371 38.26897 −74.68210 38.27135 NA
L12 2023-05-03 06:47:28 110 10.0 NW 2.0 1.0 NA −74.69943 38.26905 −74.69875 38.27161 NA
K12 2023-05-03 07:01:11 98 10.0 NW 2.0 1.0 NA −74.71613 38.26909 −74.71501 38.27164 NA
K09 2023-05-03 07:28:28 100 10.0 NW 2.0 1.0 54.5 −74.70803 38.31966 −74.70730 38.32203 NA
recover
C2305-1 2023-05-04 05:34:15 NA 15.0 WNW 45022.0 1.0 NA −74.73944 38.19464 −74.74112 38.19477 "near" and "far" switched on data sheet. FISH LABELS WILL BE WRONG! This is the max we should work in.
C2305-2 2023-05-04 06:28:19 NA 15.0 WNW 45022.0 1.0 NA −74.65424 38.20562 −74.65446 38.20554 "near" and "far" switched on data sheet. FISH LABELS WILL BE WRONG!
M12 2023-05-04 07:41:56 NA 15.0 WNW 45022.0 1.0 NA −74.68392 38.26870 −74.68322 38.26982 NA
L12 2023-05-04 08:18:49 NA 15.0 WNW 45022.0 1.0 NA −74.69961 38.26879 −74.69925 38.27005 NA
K12 2023-05-04 08:53:03 NA 15.0 WNW 45022.0 1.0 NA −74.71625 38.26890 −74.71542 38.26914 NA
K09 2023-05-04 09:49:55 NA 15.0 WNW 45022.0 1.0 NA −74.70836 38.31956 −74.70799 38.32031 NA

Bottom temperature

Cruise map

Sample summary

Catch

Black sea bass catch
N min average med max sd retained
April - 2023 - Control
far 14 0 0.8 0 4 1.26 8
near 3 0 0.2 0 3 0.87 3
April - 2023 - Project
far 29 0 0.7 0 5 1.23 18
near 29 0 1.2 0 7 2.15 13
May - 2023 - Control
far 12 0 0.7 0 3 0.91 10
near 15 0 1.2 1 3 0.87 10
May - 2023 - Project
far 79 0 2.2 2 7 1.82 20
near 40 0 1.7 2 4 1.24 20
June - 2022 - Control
far 18 0 1.0 1 2 0.77 17
near 10 0 1.4 1 5 1.81 10
June - 2022 - Project
far 6 0 0.3 0 2 0.58 6
near 5 0 0.4 0 2 0.65 5
July - 2022 - Control
far 18 0 1.2 0 6 1.93 8
near 11 0 0.9 1 3 1.08 6
July - 2022 - Project
far 13 0 0.5 0 3 0.70 12
near 4 0 0.2 0 1 0.43 3
August - 2022 - Control
far 112 0 3.3 1 21 5.24 20
near 71 0 3.0 1 18 5.03 16
August - 2022 - Project
far 36 0 0.5 0 5 0.96 24
near 35 0 0.7 0 8 1.53 21

April 2023 catch

The blank bars on the right show the count of pots with no catch.

Fish measurements

Total length (mm)

Weight (g)

Sex